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What was the most important cause of the Second World War?1) It puzzles me why comments only focus on the second paragraph of my answer. 2) I agree that other economic systems also feature imperialism. The main cause of the constant wars of Rome was in my opinion the necessity of aquiring new lands and slaves resulting from their economic system. Thus, also for Rome, it is important to understand the dynamics of why their economic system leads to imperialism, and consequently, wars. Same applies to WWII and capitalism.

How much was the wealthy elite harmed by the Bolshevik revolution?So your claim is 1) half of the grand dukes were executed 2) the grand dukes had more resources than the average noble, therefore 3) the majority of nobles were executed. However, this conclusion is invalid, because there is no negative relationship between resources at your disposal and probability of being executed. I would say there is reason to believe that this relationship is positive instead of negative.

Oct29

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What mechanisms made Stalinism triumphant in Russia?The answer to this question would depend on who you ask: A stalinist, a trotskyist or an anti-communist. Interestingly, stalinists and anti-communists would agree in that stalinism is the logical consequence of the october revolution.

Oct29

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How much was the wealthy elite harmed by the Bolshevik revolution?1) An account for what happened to the Grand Dukes is certainly not representative for the majority of rich people or even aristrocrats in Russia. Also, your claim that the prospects of “typical” aristocrats or rich people would be worse because they have less means is questionable, obviously, the high aristocracy would be a target of higher priority in a revolution. 2) Trotsky was definitely not exiled and murdered because he was rich but because he was in opposition to Stalinism.

Why did the Western Roman Empire collapse but not the Eastern Roman Empire?@SevenSidedDie I don’t understand what you mean by saying that the decline is “debated”. No historian denies that the decline existed. And yes, there is an abundance of theories on the reasons of the decline. But virtually no historian regards the military challenges that Rome faced as singular cause of said decline and eventual collapse of the Roman Empire, which several answers here do. See chapter Monocausal decay, none of those is military-related.

Who said that Saddam Hussein had WMDs?@DavidNavarre The casus belli was based on fabricated evidence. It was not primarily based on Husseins “suspicious behaviour“, which in any case would not have been sufficient to justify a war.